Burnley still hope to avoid drop

Burnley’s last away win in the top-flight was so long ago that Graham Alexander was only four when they took all three points at Newcastle in 1976.[>

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But the veteran midfielder, 38, fired in two spot-kicks to give the Clarets hope that they can somehow beat the drop this season.[>

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Boss Brian Laws was facing talk of dressing-room unrest before the game kicked off.[>

And when Kevin Kilbane gave Hull the lead after two minutes, Burnley were in big trouble.[>

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But Martin Paterson pulled them level before the interval – and the travelling fans began to dream of taking all three points.[>

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Penalty specialist Alexander fired in his seventh and eighth goals of the season – and a late strike from Wade Elliott secured Burnley’s victory.[>

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Hull took the lead through a Kilbane header that gave Clarets keeper Brian Jensen no chance, after some good work by Craig Fagan, who clipped in a delightful ball from the right.[>

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Hull should have doubled their lead on the half-hour when Jozy Altidore turned Michael Duff. [>

But ten minutes before the break Burnley got a goal back. Tyrone Mears evaded Andy Dawson and put the ball across to Paterson, who turned Steven Mouyokolo and prodded past Boaz Myhill.[>

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The Tigers suffered a major blow after the break when Dawson had to be stretchered off when he caught his ankle in a challenge with Mears.[>

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And Burnley should have gone in front after Paul McShane tangled with Steven Fletcher in the area but Duff could only fire over the bar.[>

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Just after the hour Burnley got their chance when Danny Fox lofted a free-kick into the area and Duff was hacked down by Boateng. Alexander drilled the spot-kick in to send the Burnley fans crazy.[>

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And they got another penalty in the 70th minute when David Nugent tore away down the left and was only stopped by a tug from Bernard Mendy.[>

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Alexander lashed the penalty in once again to put Burnley in complete control and they sealed their win with Elliott’s curling free-kick in injury time.[>

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Boss Laws said: “It’s certainly been a long time ­coming and what a way to do it. Even when we were 1-0 down there was still belief and once we got a grip of the game, we took it to Hull.[>

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“If you go a goal down you need to respond and after last week people were thinking it’s déjà vu. [>

“Grezza’s fantastic at penalty taking. It’s an art and he practices them a lot. He’s a great professional.”[>

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On Joey Gudjonsson’s comments about losing the dressing room, Laws said: “It’s not difficult to deal with when you get a response like that. The players gave an answer and I’m just disappointed with a player that’s not anywhere near the team.”[>

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Hull boss Iain Dowie said: “That’s probably the only bright spark of the game, the start. When they got the goal we got edgy and forgot to stick to the game plan. We’ve got to forget this quickly now. [>

“We have got five games to go and we’ve got to stick to what we believe and play in a certain way.”[>